Face-to-Face is the podcast which pairs creative people with the legends who’ve inspired them.
In this episode, London writer Gabriel Krauze meets Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. Like Welsh, Krauze's debut novel was long-listed for the Booker Prize. Who They Was, published in 2020, is an autobiographical novel about juggling an English degree with a criminal lifestyle that involves robbery, drug dealing and serious violence. Krauze has also written short stories for THE FACE.
Welsh was born in Scotland, and he grew up in housing schemes in Edinburgh. In 1977, he moved to London to embrace the punk scene. He wrote his first book Trainspotting in the late ’80s. The Trainspotting film was released in 1996, and it’s widely recognised as an era-defining classic. Welsh has written at least 13 novels, four short story collections, 10 screenplays and two theatre productions.
During their Face-to-Face conversation, Krauze and Welsh discuss parallels between punk and grime, their shared passion for boxing and their resentment towards the literary establishment.

This episode of Face-to-Face was recorded at The Standard in London and created with Front Ear podcasts. Stay tuned for the next episode.